Sunday, August 05, 2007

I just returned from several days of camping and hiking in Yosemite. I was staying at the Tuolumne Meadows campground. I really like that campground. Most of the campers there are really nice and considerate, and there's a little store within walking distance from your camp site. There's even a stream on the eastern side that draws crowds of people to cool off in the afternoons. I sat on the boulders on the stream's edge to cool off my feet after each day of hiking.

The first photo is of Tuolumne Meadows taken from the top of Lembert Dome. The view is terrific from up there, and it's easy to reach if you take the trail that rounds the dome on the northern side then ascends the rock from the north east. The second photo shows the view of Cathedral Peak from Fairview Dome. Fairview Dome is a well known site for rock climbers and has some very challenging routes. The climber descent route is a class 3 pitch up a granite slope of about 45 degrees. One photo looks down that slope from where I was sitting, and the next shows the slope's incline and the view south.

The next one was taken from Daff Dome and shows both Cathedral Peak and Fairview Dome. I cancelled my plans to hike the trail to the top of Clouds Rest because of an injury, and so I spent that day scrambling around on whatever dome I saw. I wanted to hike up to the top of Polly Dome, but the forest at the bottom was pretty thick.

The last two are from my off-trail hike to the top of Tenaya Canyon. I wanted to get some photos looking down the canyon. I wasted almost 2 hours trying different routes - each time encountering steep cliffs or other obstacles. When I return, I'll try this again (now that I know an easy route) so I can get some good morning light and shadows. The last one shows my approximate route drawn on a capture from Google Earth. The "120" marker is at Olmsted Point, where I parked my car.